The following story was submitted as an entry in The Wanderer first annual Halloween Writing Contest.
The winner will be announced in the October 25, 2007 edition.
Stories will be posted on-line as they are available in print.

The Tri-Town Myth

Where Rochester, Marion and Mattapoisett meet there is a big, dark hole.

It travels to the center of the Earth. When the planets are perfectly aligned, it opens and hundreds upon hundreds of monsters will come out. The only way to stop them is to rip the heart out of the king, but the king is the last one to come out of the hole.

The king is tall and hairy. He has a small guard but it can grow when it wants to. The king's teeth are sharp and yellow. His red eyes are as fiery as the sun. His claws could cut through titanium. He rules with an iron first.

It just so happens that the hole opened in 2014, October 31, Halloween. No one knew what was going on except one person. That person was Joe Malio, a science teacher at Old Rochester Regional High School. Joe studies myths in his spare time. He paid close attention to this myth because it is in the tri-town area. He has been trying to find the hole for a long time, but never has. The myth says that the hole is always open but he has figured out that it is only open when the monsters come out or it is not real. He has recently stopped reading myths and got interested in baseball.

On the night of October 31, 2014, he looked up at the night sky to see a bright light. It was a squiggle, blue light and was headed almost right at him but about ten miles off. An hour later monsters of all shapes and sizes appeared. The first monster was big and looked strong, it had a big body but no head. It looked like he could swallow a human in one bite, if he had a head.

All Joe did was hide behind his window and waited awhile until he thought the king was there. Joe looked out the window and saw about a hundred monsters feasting on a pile of humans. It looked like there was about 20 people in the pile. He looked closer and saw his daughter, and that made Joe very angry. He was spying on the group of monsters. He found the king and watched him closely. He noticed that he wasn't as mean as he was in the myths. He seemed to joke around.

Joe was looking for about ten minutes and then heard footsteps behind him. He then felt wet, slimy, sticky saliva and looked up. He saw a dog-like head and a big, human body. It started to bark, everyone looked at him and they started to move close but the king yelled "Stop."

Everyone stopped right where they were and looked at the king. The king said: "Why are you here?"

Joe answered, "You killed my daughter."

"We must eat to survive," barked the king.

"I know," replied Joe.

One of the monsters was starting to jump around and then exploded, another monster did the same. The king then said, "This is why we must eat."

Joe saw a sword on the ground but it was right next to the king. He said to himself, "Go on three ... one, two, three." Joe then ran fast and slid on the ground, he grabbed the sword and as he did the king kept an eye on him. All the monsters formed a circle around Joe and the king. Joe charged at the king but the king dodged him.

Joe tried again, this time the king grabbed Joe's hand and was holding him in the air. The sword was in Joe's other hand. Joe was trying to stab him but he couldn't. Joe kicked him and then the king dropped Joe. Joe then regained his balance and so did the king, but not in time. Joe had stabbed the king in the heart. The king fell to the ground and started to dissolve. The other monsters did the same. All that was left of the king and his men was a heart with a sword through it.